Of Dreams and Nightmares
by Raistron
Summary: Draxia Duskrunner, a Druid of the Wild, dealing with his nightmares, and The Emerald Nightmare. After months of a constant search for his lost brother, he's finally returned home, but home has it's own demons and problems. Set During BFA.


The city was bustling as usual, Stormwind was always busy. That much, Draxia missed a little bit, the noise was soothing in a different way than the forests of his home, but nothing could replace the chirping of the Hippogryphs, the hoots of the owls, and the river that ran by his old home.

Draxia was resting in a tree in Lion's rest, watching everyone go about there business, he was people watching for the moment, Drake was somewhere down there, probably staring out at the sea or reading. Draxia was staying nearby to be sure Drake was safe and in good health, the other Kaldorei had gotten himself way over his head and he was vulnerable, whether or not he wanted to admit it, was beside the point.

The sound of metal hitting what sounded to be wood caught his attention, his brows furrowing as he looked towards the mage district, there was a commotion just past his vision, maybe something worth checking out, but he wasn't leaving Drake unless he had to. Suddenly he spotted a Treant burst from the mage district, there was something decidedly off about it. Draxia sat up, looking closer as it seemed to run from the gatehouse, his eyes widening as he spotted corruption on its branches, but that was impossible, wasn't it?

People around the Treant stared as it ran by, collapsing suddenly and a mist surrounded it, a female Kaldorei was in its place, hands to her gut, and something brown and red was sticking out of it. This was all Draxia needed to leap from the tree, shifting forms swiftly into an owl and flying over, landing by her and shifting back to his Kaldorei form. Rushing to the woman and his hands glowing a soft green as he spoke softly. "Miss? What happened? Are you ok?" She merely looked at him, her eyes glazed over, likely from the pain and she spoke few words. "It's happening again…" And the light left her eyes, she was gone.

Draxia looked up again to see what looked to be masses of plant matter crawling on the ground, dark brown and red, and his eyes widened, the realization striking him cold. The Nightmare had returned to Stormwind. His hands glowed a bright white as he spoke softly, a deep growl in his voice. "Anu'dorini Talah!"

Pure moonlight shot from his hands as he incinerated the first few forms, dropping back with a deep breath, calling for Elune's grace as he struck down the slowly growing wave, the various citizens screaming and running, but he wasn't alone, there were others, adventurers, cut-throats, guards. All sorts were joining him now, it seemed that there was a way to get them to work together. Suddenly, the swarm stopped, and Draxia immediately moved to tend to the wounded, moving person to person swiftly, he knew there was little time.

Suddenly, screams were coming from behind him, there were more coming from the other way, and it seemed like there was no one capable of stopping them at the other side, if they didn't move now, they would get trapped. So, with the others that had worked together to defeat the first few waves, they moved through Lion's rest as fast as they could, if they could get to the port entrance and hold it, they could keep a route open for people to get to safety.

On their way, they saw a multitude of atrocities, scarring and searing into Draxia's mind as he realized just what they were fighting against, and what would happen if they failed. And then he saw something he would never forget, for the rest of his life.

Drake, laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, his glaives buried in an abomination near him, his daggers in another one, behind him, was a human family, slaughtered like the rest, all of them, dead. There was nothing Draxia could do for him now, it was too late. The look on Drake's face, the sadness, the anger, all of it in one, his eyes wide open as he stared into the sky. Draxia shuddered, everything stopped for him, his whole life, everything he had done to protect his brothers, was coming crashing around his head.

Draxia fought back tears as he closed his brother's eyes, unclasping the moon necklace around his brothers neck, and storing it in a hidden pocket, a cold chill ran through his body as he comprehended just exactly had happened, and what had caused it. He wasn't going to let this go unanswered.

As they made it to the entrance, there was a few that had the same idea, another small group was already fighting off a wave of the abominations, holding, but barely. The two groups sandwiched what was left of the Nightmare's abominations between them, slaughtering the beasts, before joining forces, for now, they had rest. Draxia once again went to tend to the wounded, only to realize, he couldn't. He couldn't call upon the powers of nature, as he looked around him, he understood why, the nature around him had been corrupted, the once green trees, the leaves, the grass, all of it was decaying, changing before his eyes.

And suddenly, he heard something much, much worse. Glancing at the way from the Cathedral district, he heard screaming, shouting, cries for help and for mercy, and there was nothing he could do. And it ate at him, suddenly, a massive wave of abominations, the lieks which he had only seen twice in his life, was coming at him now, and he was ready. His hands glowed brighter than the sun, the pure moonlight coursing through his body, the fighters closest to him gave him space, not quite sure what to make of the suddenly glowing Kaldorei.

The rage was coursing through him, much like the pure Lunar energy, it calmed him, oddly, instead of a blind rage, he was calculative, starting off the Lunar storm of energy with short bursts that blasted the nearest clusters, incinerating them immediately. Leaving nothing but charred corpses in its wake as it ramped up, it started raining down on the mass as the other joined in, a multitude of Balance Druids had joined him now, the Druids calling down Elune's full might on the Nightmare's creations.

More joined in then, arrows sung from Archer's bows, arcane, frost, and fire shot from Mage's hands, even Shadow and void energies joined the mix as Warlocks and Shadow Priests let loose. Paladins and Warriors stood side by side with Death Knights and Demon Hunters, forming a line in front of the Mages, Priests, Druids and Shamans. It didn't take long for the onslaught to reach them though, before Draxia knew it, people were dying around him, left and right, he watched a warrior's head get grabbed, the Satyr that grabbed him crushing his helmet into his head and dropping him dead. Rogue's appeared from the sides, cutting down as many as they could, but it was starting to look like it was for naught.

Draxia dropped back, looking around him to see comrades fall, Humans and Dwarves alike. And before he knew it, there were few left. A Dwarf Shaman stood by him, calling upon the elements to protect them, a wounded Paladin running to the pair. And a Arcane mage had fallen back as well, joining the small group, the nightmare's forces had stopped for a moment, lording over the bodies of corrupted matter and adventurer alike. Suddenly Draxia felt a pain in his stomach, looking down, only to see a corrupted blade sticking from his stomach, and then darkness.

Draxia woke with a start, his hands glowing a bright white, lighting up the small bedroom, looking around for any threats before it clicked where he was, and he'd let out a sigh, all the tension in his body draining from him, his hands dimming as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Burying his face in his hands and letting out a shuddering breath, this was a nightly occurrence for him, and he hated every second of it.

Standing up and looking around the small bedroom to make sure everything was as it was meant, the small wardrobe with a few robes and pants, the small charm above his bed that was held up by vines growing from the stone. He'd let out a soft sigh, stepping out from under the portal's base. He had a small nook under the Dreamway portal in Duskwood, his position as Grove Warden nearly demanded it.

He had tended to the Grove for years after coming to the Eastern Kingdoms, he had seen plenty come through, had helped many of them as well, the recent times had cost him a great toll, leaving him scarred more mentally than physically, the corruption of the Dream causing most of it. The Nightmare, and his nightmares intertwined. He had seen more than he ever wanted to in his lifetime, he had barely stayed sane through it all, but in the end, it was always one thing that brought him back.

The soft caws of multiple Hippogryphs' drew his eyes up, spotting Raist coming down slowly, and reminding him once more of exactly the thing that kept him from the brink every time, his brothers. He was once again raising a family of Hippogryphs, after years of staying away from it, but after the devastation the Horde had caused in Ashenvale, Darkshore, and the horror of Teldrassil, the large birds were becoming more scarce than they were already.

Draxia gave his brother a warm smile as the mage walked up to him, Raist giving him a slight nod back, his face showed few emotions, it rarely did. "Draxia? What happened? I could feel the power fluctuation from the top of the tree." Drax would shake his head, a soft smile on his face as he replied. "It was nothing Raist, just me waking up."

Raist eyed him carefully before replying, a slight sadness to his voice. "The Nightmare?" Draxia would sigh, looking to the ground and responding quietly. "Always, it was purged from the Dream, but I still can't be free of it, the nightmares have changed as well, I don't know what to make of them." Raist would shake his head, replying softly. "I don't know what to tell you, they're not normal dreams and you know that, but I can't help you figure out what they really are, it's beyond me."

Draxia simply shook his head, sighing softly and replying. "We'll figure it out, and all will be well." Raist would nod, giving him a worried look before continuing. "Draxia." The Kaldorei would look up, an inquisitive look on his face, and Raist would continue softly. "I know what you worry about, but you really do need to take a break and relax." Draxia would shake his head and reply softly. "The last time I 'relaxed', I thought I lost a brother. You know I promised mom and dad I would never let anything happen to any of you." Raist would shake his head, a soft smile on his face. "That was nearly 6,000 years ago. You and I both know that's not how they meant it." Draxia would shake his head, replying. "And yet, I still failed them, twice in one case. I can't keep fucking this up."


End file.
